To the Editor:

The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is a beautiful place. Those ridiculous Sens. Murkowski and Stevens say it's barren and a wasteland, and it isn't. They tried to lie to Congress saying such.

The Arctic refuge is a birthing ground for the caribou herd that my tribe relies on, for food, clothing, and it has a spiritual meaning to us as Gwich'in people. I also want to say there is no environmentally safe way to drill oil; there will also be spills and contamination that comes with oil development.

One question I have for these senators that run to D.C. and lie about what Alaskans want--that we want oil drilling, well that isn't so--why don't they say there's a tribe in Alaska that opposes drilling? Why don't they tell their friends in D.C. that the Gwich'in have co-existed with the Porcupine Caribou Herd for the last 10,000 years? Alaska Natives matter, too.

I want the generations to come to have a clean, healthy Alaska! What about you? I like having clean water to drink. I like it that we could go out hunting for game and go fishing. Alaska is the last frontier, let's keep it like that, eh? I oppose drilling in the Arctic refuge. Keep it the way it is, for all the animals that depend on it, they know it's there, all those birds that migrate there from all over the world, the caribou migrate there every year to give birth to their young. They go there because it's safe; it won't be if there's drilling.

I think these oil-hungry folks should reset their think tanks and go back to the drawing board. Think renewable energy. Think clean environment!

Marjorie Gemmill / Arctic Village